Gibbon's Library (Vol. vii., p. 485.).—In 1838 I purchased some of Gibbon's books at Lausanne, out of a basketful on sale at a small shop, the depôt of the Religious Tract Society! Edward Gibbon, printed on a small slip of paper, was pasted in them.
A. Holt White.
Golden Bees (Vol. vii., p. 478.).—When the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis, was opened in 1653, there were found, besides the skeletons of his horse and page, his arms, crystal orb, &c.,
"more than three hundred little bees of the purest gold, their wings being inlaid with a red stone like cornelian."
Ceridwen.
Passage in Orosius (Vol. vii., p. 399.).—May not the "twam tyncenum," between which Cyrus the Great's officer attempted to cross a river, be the inflated skins which the Arabs still use, as the ancient inhabitants of Assyria did, for crossing the Tigris and Euphrates, and of which the Nimroud sculptures give so many illustrations?
Ceridwen.
Names first given to Parishes (Vol. iv., p. 153.).—I wish to repeat this Query in another form, and particularly in reference to the termination -by. I suspect that wherever a cluster of villages, like that given by F. B., occurs with this Danish suffix, it is a proof that the district was originally a colony of Danes. The one in which I reside (the hundreds of Flegg), from its situation is particularly likely to have been so. Its original form was evidently that of a large island in the estuary of the Yare, which formed numerous inlets in its shores; and this was flanked on each aisle by a Roman garrison, one the celebrated fortress of Garianonum, now Burgh Castle, and the other Caistor-next-Yarmouth, in which a camp, burying-ground, &c., besides its name, sufficiently attest its Roman origin. The two hundreds of Flegg, (or Fleyg, as appears on its common seal) comprise twenty villages, thirteen of which terminate in -by. These are Ormesby, Hemesby, Filby, Mauteby, Stokesby, Herringby, Thrigby, Billockby, Ashby or Askeby, Clippesby, Rollesby, Oby, and Scratby or Scroteby.
Professor Worsaae, I believe, considers Ormesby to have been originally Gormsby, i.e. Gorm's or Guthrum's village, but I have not his work at hand to refer to. Thrigby, or Trigby as it is vernacularly pronounced, and Rollesby, may take their names from Trigge or Tricga, and Rollo, names occurring in Scandinavian history. I should feel obliged if Professors Worsaae and Stephens, or other Scandinavian antiquaries and scholars, would kindly inform me if my surmises are correct, and if the rest of the names may be similarly derived. I should add that Stokesby fully hears out the suggestion of C. (Vol. v., p. 161.), as there is even now a ferry over the Bure at that point. The district is entirely surrounded by rivers and extensive tracts of marshes, and intersected by large inland lakes, locally termed "Broads," which undoubtedly were all comprised in the estuary, and which would form safe anchorages for the long galleys of the Northmen.
E. S. Taylor.